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United Way: St. John Fisher Learning Place draws kids, parents into the community

Brampton centre lets parents, caregivers help decide activities that best suit their children, building problem-solving and social skills.

Azlinda Mohamed and daughter Maryam Sohail, 2, have been coming to St. John Fisher Neighbourhood Learning Place for a year. Hands-on activities help children develop new skills. (Leslie Ferenc / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Story time with Dina Oliveira, family resource co-ordinator at St. John Fisher Neighborhood Learning Place, is always a favourite with the children, who learn as they play. (Leslie Ferenc / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Mitch Chavez and granddaughter Téa, 2, have been coming to the St. John Fisher Neighbourhood Learning Place for a year and have made a lot of new friends. (Leslie Ferenc / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Azlinda Mohamed had walked by for two years before she ventured beyond the white picket gate at St. John Fisher Catholic School, where she discovered a special place for children and their parents.

She’s glad curiosity got the better of her. Otherwise, she’d never know about St. John Fisher Neighbourhood Learning Place, a pre-kindergarten program where youngsters up to 6 years old learn new skills as they play and where parents, many of them newcomers like Mohamed, step out of their isolation to be part of their community.

Within walking distance of her Brampton home, the free drop-in was just what her family needed. Mohamed and her husband arrived in Canada from Singapore in 2010, strangers in a new land where everything from the food and transit system to the culture and climate was foreign. The day she walked into SJF Neighbourhood Learning Place “was such a blessing,” she said. “I wish I had made that walk sooner.”

She came upon it after her son Amir Sohail started kindergarten. Daughter Fatima Sohail, then 2, was lonely without her brother. “She needed a school of her own,” wrote Mohamed in a letter to the head of the program. It ticked all the boxes, offering a fun, nurturing learning environment that also gave parents and caregivers the opportunity to come together and learn from one another.

With Fatima currently in kindergarten, sister Maryam Sohail, 2, has joined the group and it’s been a great experience for both mother and daughter. “I am a calmer, more confident and definitely a happier mom,” said Mohamed.

Like Maryam, she’s made new friends there and enjoys sharing ideas with them. “It has been a positive impact on my family,” she said, thanking program co-ordinator Dina Oliveira. “You let us have our voice in that place (and) it really feels like home.”

Everyone participates at the Learning Place, where parents and caregivers help decide activities that best suit their children, said Oliveira. “We empower parents and engage children.”

Creativity, imagination and hands-on learning contribute to language and social skills development, which happens naturally through activities like art, reading and puppetry, she explained. As they interact, children learn to share and solve problems amicably. Those are skills they’ll take with them when they enter kindergarten.

Community support from partners including United Way of Peel Region and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board ensure high-quality programming, Oliveira added.

Mitch Chavez and granddaughter Téa, 2, have been coming for about a year. The little girl has blossomed in that time. “Téa has learned so much,” said Chavez, adding her granddaughter looks forward to playing with the other children, like her best friend Kendall Anderson, also 2.

“Kendall asks to come every morning,” said her mother Heather Karl, who attends regularly with her daughter and 6-month-old son, Ryker. Kendall’s speech really took off after joining the group “and she plays a lot more with others,” Karl said. “She’s also more independent.”

The program has helped fill service gaps in a community where there’s a large population of young families with kids but few programs for them in the immediate area. Parents and caregivers have a say in how and what their children learn, said Lynn Hand, executive director at the Peel Family Education Centre, a partner of SJF Learning Place.

“It’s all very democratic,” Hand said, adding the program is distinct because “we don’t structure children’s play; we want them to explore. And as they do, they build new skills and reach their own goals. We try to help children make good decisions on their own.”

At the same time, parents learn to interact with their children in a positive way. “We’re not trying to make perfect families, but create perfect situations for each family,” said Hand.

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